Its History, Teaching- 
and Government 




GEORGE STANLEY FRAZER 



Class JB- X % 

Book ,P 7 

GcpigM 

C70MKIGHT DEPOSIT. 



9 * 



METHODISM 

Its History, Teaching, and 
Government 



BY 

George Stanley Frazer 

Author of Christianity and the 
Man of To-Day, Etc. 



WITH INTRODUCTIONS BY 

Bishop William Fraser McDowell 

of the Methodist Episcopal Church 

AND 

Bishop Edwin DuBose Mouzon 

of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, South 



Nashville, Tenn. 
Dallas, Tex. ; Richmond, Va. 
Publishing House of the M. E. Church, South 
Smith & Lamar, Agents 



Copyright, igzx 

BY 

George Stanley Frazer 



JUL 28 i922 

©CI.A681167 



Co 

My Mother 
ELLA CHAPMAN FRAZER 



Contents 

Page 

Introductions 9 

By Bishop Wm. Fraser McDowell . 9 

By Bishop Edwin D. Mouzon ... 11 

I 

Methodism: Its History 15 

John Wesley. 17 

Growth of the Methodist Movement 22 

Methodism in America 25 

II 

Its Teaching 29 

The Apostles' Creed 30 

Conversion 41 

The Witness of the Spirit 42 

Christian Perfection 43 

The Sacraments 45 

Baptism 46 

The Lord's Supper 47 

III 

Its Government 49 

The Ministry 51 

The Presiding Eldership, or District 

Superintendency 52 

The Episcopacy 53 

The Conferences 54 



(5) 



Author's Foreword 



IN presenting this little study of "Meth- 
odism: Its History, Teaching, and 
Government," it is not with the idea that 
it possesses any rare literary charm, or in- 
sight into the meaning of history or doc- 
trine. For a number of years the author 
has felt the need of a small volume which 
would contain the essential things con- 
cerning the history, teaching, and gov- 
ernment of the Methodist movement. 
The average man has little time or inclina- 
tion to search out original sources and 
pore over ponderous books to gather 
authoritative information on these sub- 
jects. While much has been written, many 
such books are rendered unintelligible to 
some readers because of the fact that they 
are encumbered with theological abstrac- 
tions and tedious doctrinal discussions. 

This little volume has been written 
with an idea that it may appeal to the vast 
numbers of laymen who honestly desire a 
better acquaintance with their Church. 
[7] 



METHODISM 



It is to be hoped that in both its arrange- 
ment and treatment it will be found to 
fill a long felt need that will give it a gen- 
eral circulation among our Methodist 
people. 

The author gratefully acknowledges the 
generous commendations contained in the 
introductions by Bishop William Fraser 
McDowell (Methodist Episcopal Church) 
and Bishop Edwin D. Mouzon (Methodist 
Episcopal Church, South). 

George Stanley Frazer. 
March, 1922. 

[8] 



Introductions 

THERE are several ways of approaching 
the study of Methodism. It maybe 
approached through its history, through its 
polity," through its doctrines, or through 
its personalities. There are people who 
have so overemphasized and misunder- 
stood what are regarded as Methodism's 
peculiar features that they have utterly 
missed the real meaning of the movement 
itself. A study of its history will not dis- 
close such eccentricities as many people 
imagine. It was not a freak movement in 
the religious world. It came into the reli- 
gious life of the world, when it came, in 
many respects just as Christianity came, 
or, later, as the Reformation came. The 
study of its polity does not reveal what 
many uninformed persons mistakenly 
think, that the Methodists set out to in- 
vent an ecclesiastical organization unlike 
anything else. Its organization was born 
in its historical development, experience, 
[9] 



METHODISM 



and purpose. The study of its doctrines 
does not reveal doctrinal excesses, va- 
garies, and extravagances, as many unin- 
formed people imagine. The doctrinal 
development of Methodism was as philo- 
sophical and psychological as the develop- 
ment of Protestantism itself. 

Methodism did not set out to make a 
new system of theology, and its theological 
contribution must not be regarded as 
though it had. It laid hold of those vital 
phases and features of Christian experience 
which most closely related themselves to 
life. And the doctrines upon which it has 
laid emphasis consequently are those 
which relate living men and women to the 
Living God through the direct and imme- 
diate activity of the Holy Spirit in human 
life. So with the personalities of the 
Church. They have been such personali- 
ties as would have arisen to create such a 
history, to use such truths, and work such 
a polity as make up Methodism. They 
have been also such personalities as such 
a movement would produce. 

I wish people did not so largely feel that 
[10] 



INTRODUCTIONS 



Methodism is so peculiar as to be hard to 
understand. It really is most easily un- 
derstood when approached in the right 
manner. These studies constitute a very 
admirable and successful attempt to in- 
terpret vital Methodism to our time. Just 
as Christianity itself needs to be restated 
to each succeeding generation, not because 
it is difficult but because it is alive, so 
Methodism needs to be restated, not be- 
cause it is hard to understand but because 
it is a living force. I am glad to say these 
words of introduction and to commend 
to the careful study of all persons into 
whose hands this little volume may fall 
such a study of essential Methodism as 
will lead to a true understanding of it. 

William Fraser McDowell. 
Washington, D. C. 



It is not too much to say that the Great 
Revival under the leadership of John Wes- 
ley was the most far-reaching revival of 
evangelical religion in the history of the 
[11] 



METHODISM 



Christian Church. John Richard Green, 
the historian of the English people, goes 
so far as to say that "the Methodists 
themselves were the least result of the 
Methodist movement. " One might well 
question the accuracy of that statement. 
But certain it is that the results of the 
Methodist revival went far beyond the 
Methodist Church, and reach now to the 
ends of the earth. So that if one is not a 
member of the Methodist Church, but 
is interested in such movements as af- 
fect society fundamentally, one will be in- 
terested in every fresh study of Meth- 
odism. 

For myself, I welcome a revival of the 
study of the history and doctrines and 
government of the Methodist Church. 
Few things are more needed just now. 
John Wesley and those associated with 
him laid stress always on things of first 
importance. Those first Methodists were 
so certain of the things of the spirit, that 
they gave little time to things that do not 
really matter. One wonders nowadays, 
when one sees certain brethren go greatly 
[12] 



INTRODUCTIONS 



agitated over matters that do not touch 
the heart of spiritual religion, if these good 
people have ever for themselves, in their 
own heart of hearts, entered into the 
Christian experience which made Method- 
ism, and for the preservation of which 
God seems specially to have called the 
Methodist Church into being. The fact 
is, much passes for Methodism to-day 
that is not Methodism at all. 

I welcome, therefore, the publication of 
this little book. The author has proved 
himself to be a true interpreter of the 
spirit and genius of Methodism. This 
book shows a vast amount of reading in 
this special field, and a clear insight into 
the significance of history, the meaning of 
doctrine, and the value of institutions. 
This book will be of service not only to 
our young people, but also to our busy 
laymen who desire to become better 
Christians and better Methodists. To all 
such I most heartily commend it. It is 
to be hoped that it will lead many who 
read it to undertake for themselves original 
study of the source books of Methodism. 
[13] 



METHODISM 

All study of this kind invariably freshens 
our faith and sends us forth with renewed 
determination to "spread Scriptural holi- 
ness over these lands. " 

Edwin D. Mouzon. 

Tulsa, Okla. 

[14] 



METHODISM 



i 

Its History 

IN order to form a proper estimate of 
the Methodist movement, one must 
understand something of the character 
of the times that made it necessary. The 
leaders in the founding of Methodism 
had no desire to establish a new faith, 
but rather to revive a dying one. The 
times in which Methodism arose were in 
sore want. The history of religion in Eng- 
land since Augustine and his company 
entered Canterbury twelve hundred years 
before, shouting, "Lord, save this guilty 
city!" had been like the history of English 
politics — a tale of strife. The two hun- 
dred years following the breach between 
Henry VIII and Rome had been a period 
of constant struggle. 

While there were many fine examples of 
personal devotion to Christ, the life of the 
[15] 



METHODISM 

Church of England had fallen into a pe- 
riod of spiritual darkness and desolation. 
The dramas of Congreve, the accepted 
standards of the day, the prevalence of 
indolence and intolerance show to what 
depths of vileness society had fallen. At 
the close of the seventeenth century Eng- 
land was on the way to an apparent re- 
jectidn of Christianity by all the circles 
of fashion, learning, and nobility. It was 
during this period that Bishop Butler, 
one of the great thinkers of the day, said : 
" Christianity seems at length to have been 
found out to be fictitious." The utter- 
ances of other thoughtful men in the 
Church of England of that period were 
despondent. Bishop Burnett said: "I 
see ruin hanging over the Church"; and 
one year before the rise of Methodism, 
Seeker, Archbishop of Canterbury, wrote: 
"Christianity is ridiculed with very little 
reserve, and the teachers of it with none 
at all." But the extremity of men was 
God's opportunity. While doleful prel- 
ates sat in their castles, with scarce a ray 
of hope surviving, a great reformer and 
[16] 



ITS HISTORY 



leader was being prepared in the provi- 
dence of God — "a man sent from God 
whose name was John" — to rescue his 
Church from a dead formalism and make 
glad the hearts of men with the tidings of 
salvation. 



John Wesley 

JOHN WESLEY, the founder of the 
Methodist movement, was born in 
1703 at Epworth, in Lincolnshire, the son 
of the Rev. Samuel Wesley and Susanna 
Annesley Wesley. He came of a long line 
of distinguished ancestry, dating back to 
Baron William de Wellesley, member of Par- 
liament in 1339. After receiving his educa- 
tion at Oxford University, Samuel Wesley 
served as chaplain on a British man-of-war 
and later as rector of Epworth. Susanna 
Wesley was the daughter of Dr. Samuel 
Annesley, one of the leading dissenting 
ministers of his day. She was a woman of 
unusual endowment and attainment. She 
knew Greek, Latin, and French, and was 
possessed of rare strength of mind and 
[17] 



METHODISM 



character. Bishop McTyeire, one of the 
greatest authorities on Methodist history, 
said that Susanna Wesley transmitted to 
her son John "her genius for learning, for 
order, for government, and, I might also 
say, for godliness." 

In 1720 John Wesley entered Oxford 
University. Despite its fame as a seat of 
learning, the atmosphere of Oxford was 
favorable to neither intellectual nor spir- 
itual development. Fitchett said : "It had 
no enthusiasms even for athletics. It was 
the home of insincerity, idleness, and the 
vices bred of such qualities." But there 
is no evidence that Wesley fell into the 
loose ways that characterized his fellow 
students, and during his college days he 
made a profound impression on his fellow 
students as a man of rare classical taste, 
of liberal and manly sentiments, and of 
marked skill in logic. Shortly following 
his graduation he was elected Fellow in 
Lincoln College, Oxford, and at the age 
of twenty-three was elected Greek lec- 
turer and moderator of the classes. In 
[18] 



ITS HISTORY 



the year 1727 he received his Master's de- 
gree and returned to his home in Epworth 
to become his father's curate. But the 
environment of Epworth was unattrac- 
tive, and after two years he returned to 
Oxford on the urgent call of the univer- 
sity authorities. During the six years 
following he presided at the Moderations 
(public debates) and delivered daily lec- 
tures. 

While serving at Epworth, Wesley had 
begun to cultivate systematic habits of 
devotion, and on returning to Oxford he 
gathered about him a small group of young 
men of like mind. They assembled at 
stated times for prayer and religious con- 
versation, pledging themselves to help one 
another in leading stricter lives than were 
commonly practiced among their fellow 
students. The little group began to at- 
tract attention and soon became the tar- 
get of the wit and cynicism of their fellow 
students. But they continued in prayer 
and study, prosecuting their high resolve 
with such earnest diligence that a witty 
student dubbed them "Methodists," a 
[19] 



METHODISM 



name destined to acquire historic signifi- 
cance in the years to come. 

Following the death of his father, John 
Wesley, having been offered the place of 
chaplain for the colony in Georgia by Gen- 
eral Oglethorpe, sailed for America in 
company with his brother Charles. Va- 
rious estimates have been placed on Wes- 
ley's work in the Georgia colony, but while 
the people were impressed with his preach- 
ing, his High Church views and practices 
caused his influence to wane, and he re- 
turned to England. On Wednesday, May 
24, 1738, he attended services at St. Paul's 
in London. During the service he was 
deeply impressed with the anthem: "Out 
of the deep have I called unto thee, O 
Lord." In speaking of an event in the 
evening of the same day, he said: "I went 
unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate 
Street, where one was reading Luther's 
preface to the Epistle to the Romans. 
About a quarter before nine o'clock, while 
he was describing the change which God 
works in the heart through faith in Christ, 
I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt 
[20] 



ITS HISTORY 

that I did trust Christ alone for salvation 
and an assurance was given me that he had 
taken away my sins — even mine." Lecky 
said that that meeting in Aldersgate 
" forms an epoch in English history." In 
tracing the course of his spiritual develop- 
ment, one can see that Wesley's life until 
this time had been rather self-centered. 
His faith had been more of a following of a 
system than a fellowship with a Person. 
With the realization of a new force in his 
life, he went to Germany to be thrown in 
the pious association of Moravian friends. 
Returning to England eager to labor in 
the Master's vineyard, he ministered to 
the convicts in London prisons, gave reli- 
gious instructions in private houses, and 
preached in the Established Church un- 
til the doors were closed to him. 

[21] 



METHODISM 



Growth of the Methodist Movement 

ANY statement of the rise and growth 
of Methodism, however brief, would 
be in error were it to fail in according 
to George Whitefield his rightful place. 
Whitefield was one of the group of young 
Oxford students who were variously known 
as "Methodists" and the "Holy Club." 
He was endowed with a marvelous power 
of eloquence. While Wesley was in Amer- 
ica, Whitefield had startled England by 
his preaching. The movement with which 
his name was associated along with that of 
Wesley had fallen more and more under 
the suspicion of the authorities of the 
Church of England. Finding the way 
blocked in London, Whitefield set out for 
Bristol, only to find the doors of the church 
closed to him there. Four miles north- 
west of Bristol and adjacent to coal mines 
was a tract of country called Kingswood. 
It was a neglected area covered with 
squalid huts of miners. The authorities 
had provided the inhabitants of this ter- 
ritor / with neither churches nor schools. 
Seeing the condition of these neglected 
[22] 



ITS HISTORY 



peoples, Whitefield's sympathies were 
aroused, and disregarding the rules of the 
Established Church, he preached to thou- 
sands of these miners in the open fields. 
Whitefield then sent an urgent request to 
Wesley to come to Bristol to preach to 
these people. Yielding to Whitefield's 
importunities, Wesley arrived at Bristol, 
and seeing the multitudes eager to hear 
the message and wandering as sheep with- 
out a shepherd, he laid aside all eccle- 
siastical obstacles and preached to the 
neglected masses, his preaching being at- 
tended with a remarkable manifestation 
of heavenly power. After his experience 
with field preaching, Wesley wrote these 
memorable words: "I look upon all the 
world as my parish — thus far, I mean, that 
in whatever part of it I am, I judge it meet, 
right, and my bounden duty to declare 
unto all that are willing to hear the tidings 
of salvation. This is the work to which 
I know God has called me, and sure I am 
that his blessing attends." 

As a result of the labors of Wesley and 
Whitefield, the Methodist movement as. 
[23] 



METHODISM 



sumed broader proportions, and at Bris- 
tol the first Methodist church was planned 
and built. But before the Bristol church 
was opened for worship, John Wesley had 
purchased the old foundry near Moor- 
fields, a building that was used by the 
British government for the molding of 
cannon. The foundry was subsequently 
remodeled and became the cradle of Meth- 
odism, the first Methodist church ever 
opened for worship. 

In speaking of the origin of the organ- 
ized Church, Mr. Wesley wrote: "In the 
latter end of the year 1739 eight or ten 
persons came to me in London and de- 
sired that I would spend some time with 
them in prayer, and advise them how to 
flee from the wrath to come. This was the 
rise of the United Society" (Methodist 
movement). The meetings of these so- 
cieties were characterized by prayer, 
teaching, love feasts, and conferences. 
Even at this time Mr. Wesley had no idea 
of the formation of a separate Church, and 
reaffirmed his loyalty to the Established 
Church, and disclaimed any thought of 
[24] 



ITS HISTORY 



separation. But the hand of Providence 
was shaping the new movement, giving it 
light and strength, and the achievment of 
a task greatly needed to be done. Meth- 
odism began to command the attention of 
the influential, and with the aid of the 
Countess of Huntington, and others of 
rank and wealth, chapels were built, 
schools were established, and the move- 
ment spread to distant fields. 



Methodism in America 

WITH the tide of immigration from 
the Old World to America, there 
was planted in the colonies the seed of in- 
tolerance and religious persecution, but in 
1785 Jefferson's Bill for Religious Freedom 
became a law. This law dealt the mosp ef- 
fective blow to the opposition encountered 
by the early Methodists in the colonies. 
But even earlier the new movement had 
gained a footing. Robert Strawbridge, a 
native of Drumsna, Ireland, was converted 
under the preaching of John Wesley. 
- About 1760 he settled on Sam's Creek, in 
[25] 



METHODISM 

Maryland, and opened his house for preach- 
ing. A log meeting house was built a few 
years later near his house. This building, 
thirty miles northwest of Baltimore, is 
called by many "the cradle of American 
Methodism." Other authorities claim 
that the first congregation was organized 
in New York at the house of Philip Em- 
bury, which soon proved too small for the 
rapidly growing congregation, and new 
quarters were secured in the old rigging 
loft on William Street. Captain Webb, 
a brave soldier who had served with Wolfe 
at Quebec, assisted Embury in carrying 
forward the work, with the result that 
Wesley Chapel was built on John Street 
and opened for worship in October, 1768. 
Unlike other churches, the Methodist 
chapel had a chimney, to avoid the law 
that forbade dissenting churches being 
built in the city. 

In 1771 Francis Asbury, called "the 
Apostle of American Methodism," came 
to America in company with Richard 
Wright. Wright returned later to Eng- 
land, and Asbury was left in charge of the 
[26] 



ITS HISTORY 

work in the colonies and the appointment 
of the preachers, subject to Wesley's su- 
pervision. Asbury traveled up and down 
the Atlantic seaboard, organizing socie- 
ties and establishing preaching chapels. 
In 1784 Thomas Coke, Doctor of Laws of 
Oxford, came to America by the appoint- 
ment of Wesley to assume supervision of 
the work with Asbury. In the same year 
the Methodist Episcopal Church was for- 
mally organized at a conference held in 
Baltimore. At this conference Coke and 
Asbury were elected bishops, or general 
superintendents. 

American Methodism remained .as a 
single organization, under the direction of 
one General Conference, until 1844. The 
fires of controversy which enveloped the 
whole nation and found expression in the 
Civil War, began to rage in the Church 
itself. The General Conference of 1844 
gave full and exclusive authority to the 
"Annual Conferences in the slave-holding 
States" to decide upon the necessity of 
organizing a separate ecclesiastical con- 
nection in the South. A separation was 
[27] 



METHODISM 



duly and legally effected, and American 
Methodism was divided into two distinct 
ecclesiastical bodies — the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church and the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, South, both bodies re- 
maining essentially one in doctrine and 
practice. 

[28] 



II 

Its Teaching 

THE Methodist movement was distinc- 
tively spiritual, and not at all doc- 
trinal in its teaching. It arose as a protest 
against cold formalism in theology, ritual, 
and practice. It made no warfare on 
other Christian bodies except in so far as 
they lacked true spiritual expression. It 
placed its entire emphasis on inner ex- 
perience — the life of God in the soul of 
man. Wesley declared over and over 
again that a Methodist was not one who 
had a certain set of opinions, but one who 
lived a certain kind of life. He was among 
the first of modern leaders to insist that 
men ought to live together in Christian 
fellowship and to cooperate in Christian 
service on the simple basis of faith in 
Jesus Christ. 

In his Journal, under date of August 26, 
1789, Wesley speaks of the broad founda- 
tion on which Methodism is building, and 
describes it as a Church " which requires 
of its members no conformity either in 
[29] 



METHODISM 



opinion or modes or worship, but barely 
this one thing — to fear God and work 
righteousness." In another place he 
writes: " Is man a believer in Jesus Christ, 
and is his life suitable to his profession? 
are not only the main but the sole in- 
quiries I make in order to his admission 
into our society." 

Still it is not to be inferred from Wes- 
ley's broad spirit of tolerance that he was 
of the company of those who hold that 
matters of belief in the sphere of religion 
are of minor importance. No man had a 
clearer insight into the great fundamen- 
tals of Scriptural doctrine than Wesley 
had, nor has anyone proclaimed the es- 
sential truths of faith with more con- 
vincing power. 



The Apostles' Creed 

THE Apostles' Creed, which is em- 
braced in the "Order of Worship" of 
thousands of Methodist Churches, ex- 
presses the fundamental belief of Method- 
ism as it does of other Christian bodies. 
[30] 



ITS TEACHING 



The creed represents the substance of the 
faith of the Church. It was not written 
by the apostles, but it summarizes their 
teachings and is a compendium of the 
chief facts of Christianity, drawn up in a 
systematic and authoritative form. This 
creed can be traced in its simplest form to 
the second century, but in its developed 
form it stands as it was shaped by the de- 
bates and definitions of Christian councils. 
All creeds owe their origin to the neces- 
sities of worship and the instinct of public 
confession. The early Christians formed 
the habit when they met of reciting their 
common faith, and this recitation assumed 
a fixed rhythmical form. The Apostles' 
Creed as Methodists recite it defines what 
the Christian Church has always under- 
stood to be the mind of the Scriptures on 
certain points. 

The Apostles' Creed, together with an 
interpretation of its meaning, will enable 
us to better understand this great, his- 
toric statement of Christian faith: 

"I believe in God the Father Al- 
mighty, Maker of heaven and earth." — 
[31] 



METHODISM 



The New Testament emphasizes the uni- 
versal Fatherhood of God. All that the 
relation of an earthly father to his children 
involves, Jesus has affirmed of God in his 
relation to men. To God we owe our exist- 
ence, from him we borrow his nature and 
likeness. He provides for our wants, he 
educates and disciplines us, he is gracious- 
ly disposed to forgive our offenses, and he 
makes us heirs of eternal life. God is the 
Father of Jesus Christ and the Father of 
all his creatures. God is almighty. He is 
present everywhere and powerful above 
all other gods. He rules not only his peo- 
ple, those who trust him, but he rules all 
the nations of the earth. He is the Maker 
of heaven and earth. The world origi- 
nated in the will of God. He is the abso- 
lute Sovereign over the material universe. 
The silent multitude of the stars, the glow 
of the sunrise and the sunset, the deep 
blue of the arched sky — these are the 
handiwork of God. The whiteness of the 
snow, the rolling seas, the majesty of the 
mountains, the far-extending plains, the 
song of the birds, the beauty of form in a 
[32] 



ITS TEACHING 



wayside flower — these are silent witnesses 
of God's creative hand. Indeed, the phys- 
ical beauty of the world is — 

"An endless fountain of immortal drink 
Pouring into us from heaven's brink." 

"And in Jesus Christ his only Son 
our Lord." — Jesus calls himself not a son, 
but the Son. He chose to express his 
views of his person by this term. The 
mutual relation existing between the Fa- 
ther and the Son is a perfect one. Not 
only is the Father's nature open to Jesus, 
without that sense of mystery that char- 
acterized the vision of prophet and saint, 
but in like manner the innermost nature 
of Jesus is open only to the Father. Jesus 
stands to God in a relation of intimacy 
such as no other can share. He possesses 
the privileges and fulfills the obligations 
of Sonship. His death was the means of 
procuring for us the highest blessings in 
his Father's kingdom, and he is our Lord 
and Master possessed of authority in that 
kingdom. 

"Who was conceived by the Holy 

2 [33] 



METHODISM 

Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary." — In the 

narrative of Matthew and Luke there is 
perfect agreement that Jesus was mirac- 
ulously conceived and that he was born in 
Bethlehem, as the Christmas story is 
known. The great body of professing 
Christians can agree with the scholarly 
Dr. Macintosh, of New College, Edin- 
burgh, in the statement that the super- 
natural conception is a "befitting and 
credible preface to a life that was crowned 
by resurrection from the dead," and "that 
an abnormal fact in the sphere of nature 
should answer to the transcendent spir- 
itual element in the person of Christ is 
both a scriptural and profoundly philo- 
sophical thought." 

•'Suffered under Pontius Pilate."— 
The Jews brought against Jesus a charge 
of blasphemy, saying that he had attacked 
sacred institutions. They appealed to 
Jesus to answer if he claimed to be the 
Christ. Jesus answered, "I am." The 
claim was forthwith declared to amount 
to blasphemy, and he was condemned to 
be worthy of death. The Jews took the 
[341 



ITS TEACHING 



position that in a case of this kind it was 
the duty of the Roman governor to sus- 
tain their judgment. But seeing the dif- 
ficulty of securing the death sentence on 
the religious charge of blasphemy, they re- 
sorted to the political charge of treason, 
saying: "We found this man perverting 
our nation, and forbidding to give tribute 
to Caesar, and saying he himself is Christ, 
a king." Then Pilate, the Roman gover- 
nor, sought to evade responsibility, but 
the Jews threatened to complain to the 
higher Roman authorities that Pilate had 
not supported them in stamping out 
treason. Pilate was unwilling that his 
administration should undergo investi- 
gation, and to satisfy the popular clamor, 
pronounced Jesus guilty of sedition as the 
pretended king of the Jews, and delivered 
him to be crucified. 

"Was crucified, dead, and buried." — 
When the sentence was pronounced by 
Pilate, Jesus was scourged, dressed with 
mock emblems of royalty, and led forth to 
Golgotha to be crucified. Crucifixion was 
the form of death by torture which was 
[35] 



METHODISM 



reserved by the Romans for slaves and 
rebels. In the agony of death, Jesus 
prayed for those who had crucified him. 
The last words spoken on the cross were: 
"Father, into thy hands I commend my 
spirit." There were friends of Jesus who, 
though unable to resist the wild will of 
the mob, were able to gain possession of 
the body. With the permission of the au- 
thorities Joseph of Arimathaea removed 
the body from the cross, wrapped it in a 
cloth of linen, and laid it in a rock-hewn 
tomb, the entrance of which was closed by 
a great stone, and the stone was sealed and 
a guard set over the tomb. 

"The third day he rose again from 
the dead." — Here is the fact of the Eas- 
ter story. No incident in the annals of 
history is more certain than that the dis- 
ciples of Jesus believed that he rose from 
the tomb in which he was buried, and at 
intervals he met and conversed with them 
in different places. On this fact rests the 
existence of the Christian Church. The 
scattered and disheartened followers of 
Jesus could never have found a rallying 
[36] 



ITS TEACHING 



point around one who was condemned 
and crucified as a criminal, had they not 
believed that God had owned him and 
accredited his divine mission in raising 
him from the dead. Blackstone, the great 
English lawyer, says: "No event in his- 
tory is more amply substantiated by com- 
petent testimony than the resurrection of 
Jesus." 

"He ascended into heaven, andsitteth 
at the right hand of God the Father 
Almighty; from thence he shall come 
to judge the quick and the dead." — 

The scene of the ascension was the 
Mount of Olives, and was the uplifting 
of the bodily form of Jesus from the earth 
until it disappeared in a cloud and re- 
turned to the Father. "An eternal char- 
acter is thus given to the sacrifice of the 
death of Christ, which becomes effica- 
cious through the exaltation of his cruci- 
fied and risen manhood" (Dr. James G. 
Simpson, Prin. Clergy School, Leeds). 
Having reassumed the glory which he had 
with the Father, Jesus sits on the right 
hand of the Father, the place of honor and 
[371 



METHODISM 



authority. And from thence he shall 
come to conquer the powers of evil, and 
to judge the quick (the living) and the 
dead. 

"I believe in the Holy Ghost."— Be- 
fore he went away, Jesus gave promise 
of a Comforter, who will convict the world 
of sin and of judgment and will guide in 
the ways of truth. The Holy Ghost, or the 
Holy Spirit, is God, a Person within the 
Godhead. He was in the world before 
God clothed him in the incarnation. He 
is the life-giving presence in the world and 
in the Church. He is the life of God in the 
individual, convicting of sin; mediating 
to him forgiveness and new life; nourish- 
ing and purifying his whole personality, 
and bringing him to the fullness of eternal 
life. 

"The holy catholic Church."— All 

the great creeds of Christendom have con- 
tained declarations of their belief in the 
Church. The expression "Holy Catholic 
Church" means the universal Church of 
Jesus Christ. "Catholic" is derived from 
a Greek word meaning whole, universal, 
[38] 



ITS TEACHING 



entire. In the sense used here it has no 
reference to the Roman Church, of which 
the pope of Rome is head. When we pro- 
fess our belief in the "Holy Catholic 
Church" we mean the Church of Jesus 
Christ extending throughout the world, 
and embracing as its teaching the accepted 
word of God. 

"The communion of saints." — This 
refers to the society of the professed fol- 
lowers of Jesus, or the fellowship of those 
who are consecrated to the service of 
God. 

"The forgiveness of sins." — The Scrip- 
tures teach that "all have sinned and come 
short of the glory of God"; "there is none 
righteous." Sin is the transgression of the 
law of God. We sin by thought, word, 
and deed. Men in every age have cried 
out, "God be merciful to me a sinner." 
Christianity has an answer to that cry. 
"God so loved the world that he gave his 
only begotten Son, that whosoever be- 
lieveth on him should not perish, but have 
everlasting life." A sense of sin, a peni- 
tent spirit, and a vital faith in Christ are 
[39] 



METHODISM 



the essential factors in God's forgiveness 
of sin. 

"The resurrection of the body; and the 
life everlasting."— The question that has 
haunted the human race from the dawn 
of time is whether man shall live on the 
other side of death. The vast majority 
of thinkers in all times have held to the 
belief that the soul survives death. Jesus 
says: "Because I live, ye shall live also." 
Our glorified bodies will share in the gen- 
eral resurrection on the last day. It is 
inconceivable to think that man, with his 
affections, capabilities, and yearnings, 
shall lie down and die as the dumb beast 
of the field. 

Tennyson sums up the intuitions of the 
race in his "In Memoriam": 

"Thou wilt not leave us in the dust; 

Thou madest man, he knows not 
why, 

He thinks he was not made to die; 
And thou hast made him: thou art 
just." 

[40] 



ITS TEACHING 



Conversion 

AMONG the essential teachings of 
Methodism, first emphasis must be 
placed on conversion, or the "new birth," 
which means the entrance of the soul into 
the family of God. Mr. Wesley did not at- 
tempt to advance any theory of conver- 
sion apart from its commonly accepted 
scriptural meaning. Conversion has been 
defined as " the process, gradual or sudden, 
by which a soul hitherto divided, and con- 
sciously wrong and unhappy, becomes 
unified and consciously right and happy, 
by its firmer hold upon divine reality." 
As such it is no other than the commence- 
ment of the life of Christ in the life of man. 
It is the acceptance of that spiritual gift 
of God appropriated to our own life. 

Conversion may take many forms and 
may be wrought in us in different ways. 
While it is true this experience with the 
majority of the early Methodists came in 
some great emotional upheaval, it cannot 
be questioned that with many devoted 
followers of Christ it has come in the slow 
dawning of a faith that is as certain as 
[41] 



METHODISM 



life itself. God has many gates by which 
he finds his way into the heart, and he 
speaks to men in different languages. 
Methodism does not limit its idea of con- 
version to one form or experience. 



The Witness of the Spirit 

ANOTHER doctrine of the Holy Scrip- 
tures which Methodism emphasizes 
is "the witness of the Spirit." It has been 
denned as that "testimony or inward im- 
pression on the soul, whereby the Spirit of 
God directly witnesses to my spirit that I 
am a child of God ; that Jesus Christ hath 
loved me and given himself for me; and 
that all my sins are blotted out, and that 
I am reconciled to God." The Holy 
Spirit is spoken of as a seal, and the pur- 
pose of a seal is to give evidence. The 
Spirit is the witness of the saving work of 
God in the soul of man. 

Methodists hold to the belief that when 
the Christian is doing the will of God, 
the Spirit affords satisfactory evidences of 
salvation, or that one living in possession 
[42] 



ITS TEACHING 

of spiritual health has an abundant tes- 
timony of that possession. It must not be 
concluded that the same fullness or de- 
gree of emotional fervor would be present 
at all times with all peoples in all ages of 
history. In the stormy days that wit- 
nessed the birth of the Methodist move- 
ment great emotional outbursts were 
common in public gatherings, but the same 
type of emotionalism is not so prevalent 
in our day as in earlier times. Still, the 
voice of God is unmistakably clear in 
every changing century, and to-day the 
"Spirit bears witness" in unmistakable 
tones, and by this testimony we can still 
know that we are the children of God. 



Christian Perfection 

A THIRD doctrine on which Mr. Wes- 
ley and the early Methodists placed 
emphasis is "Christian perfection," va- 
riously spoken of in different places as 
"entire sanctification," "perfect love," or 
"perfect holiness." Perfection is the ideal 
for which every Christian must strive. 
[43] 



METHODISM 



The Sermon on the Mount is a picture of 
moral and spiritual perfection. In this we 
have a portrayal of the completed work of 
God's grace. It is that health of soul 
that issues forth in spiritual beauty and 
grace, frees it from the bonds of sense and 
selfishness, and brings it into right and 
wholesome and happy relationship with 
God and life and its fellow souls. 

Mr. Wesley's own account of his teach- 
ing on this subject guards against misunder- 
standing and abuse. He did not teach 
some impossible attainment, one that 
excludes progress in the Christian life and 
makes falling away impossible, one that 
is independent of watchfulness and prayer. 
He did not hold that Christian perfection 
is exemption from error or infirmity or 
temptation, but that it is the complete sov- 
ereignty in the life of the principle of love 
— love to God and love to man. He 
warned his followers against fanaticism 
and undue haste in professing the experi- 
ence of perfect love. In the profession of 
perfection and of every other Christian 
grace the Master has given the final test: 
[44] 



ITS TEACHING 



"By their fruits ye shall know them." 
The Methodist ideal of perfection is one 
with the ideal given in the New Testa- 
ment: " Be ye perfect, even as the Father 
in heaven is perfect." 



The Sacraments 

METHODISM, in company with the 
majority of Christians, recognizes 
only two sacraments — baptism and the 
Lord's Supper. The term "sacrament" is 
derived from sacramentum, the oath of a 
Roman soldier when he enlisted in the 
army. A sacrament is an outward sign of 
spiritual truth, or, to use the phraseology 
of the Wesleyan Catechism, it is "an out- 
ward and visible sign of an inward and 
spiritual grace given unto us." A sacra- 
ment is of value only as it helps us to a 
realization of spiritual truth. The sacra- 
ments are not only badges or tokens of our 
professions, but they are signs of grace and 
of God's good will toward us. They are 
representative of our union with Christ. 
As baptism corresponds to the birth into 
[45] 



METHODISM 



the life of Christ, the Lord's Supper, or 
Holy Communion, is the food by which 
we are nourished and sustained. 



Baptism 

BAPTISM is a seal of the relation into 
which the individual has been brought 
with God. When we are baptized with 
water, it is to signify the cleansing and 
forgiveness of our sins; and in the "name 
of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost' ' 
declares the divine source of that cleans- 
ing. Just as a king receives his crown 
at his coronation, so the Christian re- 
ceives the rite of baptism as a token of 
forgiveness and entrance into the fam- 
ily of God. 

When performed in the case of adults, 
baptism is a seal of conversion accom- 
plished; with infants it is an act of dedi- 
cation to God and a prophecy of conver- 
sion to come — a prophecy that is to be 
accomplished through instruction, ex- 
ample, and counsel of Christian parents 
and friends. Jesus blessed the little chil- 
[46] 



ITS TEACHING 



dren and commanded them to be brought 
to him, and Methodism holds with other 
Christian Churches that children are the 
proper subjects for baptism. The form — 
whether sprinkling, pouring, or immersion 
— is indifferent, and that form or mode 
might be varied according to custom and 
convenience without impairing the mean- 
ing of the sacred rite. 



The Lord's Supper 

THE Lord's Supper, or Holy Com- 
munion, was instituted by Jesus in 
the company of his disciples just before 
the crucifixion. It is accepted by Chris- 
tians everywhere as a memorial or a 
commemoration of his sacrifice for our 
redemption. It is also the badge of mem- 
bership in the Church of Christ and a re- 
newal of our Christian profession. Every 
part of the Lord's Supper is significant. 
The broken bread is symbolic of the slain 
body, the wine of the shed blood, and the 
eating and drinking represents the living 
faith which unites the believer with his 
[47] 



METHODISM 

Lord. "The body of Christ is given, tak- 
en, and eaten in the Supper, only after a 
heavenly and spiritual manner; and the 
means whereby the body of Christ is re- 
ceived and eaten in the Supper, in faith." 
(Methodist Article of Religion XVIII.) 
The Holy Communion becomes nothing 
more than an empty form to one who 
does not conceive of it as an aspiration 
and progress towards oneness with 
Christ. It must also be the fresh remind- 
er of the humanity of Christ — that hu- 
manity, divinely spiritual, through which 
his sacrificial death crushed the whole 
power of sin. 

[48] 



Ill 

Its Government 

THE government of Methodism pos- 
sesses a characteristic that has been 
the admiration of peoples of all religious 
bodies — the guarantee to every Church a 
pastor and to every active pastor a pulpit. 
Such a rule could not obtain in any sys- 
tem of Church government other than a 
connectionalism. With the organization 
of every congregation into a Methodist 
Church there follows the understanding 
that the administrative authorities of the 
Church will appoint a suitable person to di- 
rect the spiritual growth of that congrega- 
tion. And with the admission of a minister 
into membership in an Annual Conference, 
the understanding is equally clear that 
that minister will receive an appointment 
to some Church or group of Churches. 

A thorough confidence in the justice 
and integrity of the administrative author- 
ities of the Church is essential to the per- 
[49] 



METHODISM 

petuity of such a system, since the indi- 
vidual congregation foregoes the privilege 
of selecting its minister, and the minister, 
himself, surrenders the right to choose the 
field in which he shall labor. Methodism 
lays no claim to infallibility in operation. 
Like every other institution on earth, it is 
subject to the imperfections and mistakes 
common to humanity. But when one con- 
siders the fact that its thousands of min- 
isters are appointed or reappointed an- 
nually to their respective fields, and the 
almost negligible number of cases where 
readjustment in appointments is neces- 
sary, it is no wonder that the operation 
of the system is regarded as a marvel. 

The organization of Methodism in- 
cludes the local Church, the ministry, and 
a system of Conferences. 

The local Church is ordinarily a single 
congregation with its own pastor and of- 
ficial board. In many localities two or 
more Churches are grouped together as a 
''circuit" under the administration of one 
pastor and official board. Each Church 
or group of Churches is practically in- 
[50] 



ITS GOVERNMENT 



dependent in the conduct of its financial 
affairs, but in its relation to the general 
work it is subject to the ecclesiastical sys- 
tem. The laity of the Church is repre- 
sented in all the Conferences of the Church, 
administrative, legislative, and judicial. 



The Ministry 

THE Methodist ministry is composed 
of two orders — deacons and elders. 
The terms have come down to us from the 
practices and phraseology of the Apos- 
tolic Church. The Greek word diakonos 
(translated "servant" or "minister") de- 
noted one who was intrusted with certain 
duties and privileges. Hence it came to 
be applied to a special officer in the early 
Church. This term has the same signifi- 
cance in Methodism, and refers to those in 
the ministry of the Church who, after a 
specified period of service and examination 
in a prescribed course of study, are or- 
dained by a bishop. A deacon has the 
authority to solemnize matrimony, ad- 
minister baptism, and assist in the ad- 
[51] 



METHODISM 

ministration of the Lord's Supper. After 
serving for two years as a deacon and with 
the completion of an advanced course of 
study, a minister becomes eligible to elec- 
tion and ordination as an elder, and as 
such has the authority to consecrate the 
elements of the Lord's Supper. Elders 
represent the highest order in the Church 
and are eligible to appointment or elec- 
tion to any office in the Church. 



The Presiding Eldership; or District 
Superintendency 

ONE of the distinctive features of the 
Methodist system is the presiding el- 
dership, or district superintendency. They 
are terms variously used to denote those 
intrusted with the supervision of the work 
of the Church in a definite area or district. 
At the Annual Conference the presiding 
bishop appoints men from the ranks of the 
ministry to this office. They visit the 
Churches in their districts, preside at 
Quarterly Conferences and District Con- 
ferences, represent the bishop in the ad- 
[52] 



ITS GOVERNMENT 



ministration of Church affairs, and assist 
in making the appointments of the min- 
isters to specific Churches. As such the 
presiding elders form what is known as the 
bishop's " cabinet." 



The Episcopacy 

THE episcopacy is an important and 
instrumental factor in Methodism. 
Bishops, or general superintendents, as 
they are sometimes called, are not regard- 
ed as belonging to a separate order, but 
rather as officers who are elected to have 
general oversight of the religious work of 
the Church. The term is derived from the 
Greek word episkopos, which means an 
* 'overseer" of the flock of Christ. St. Paul 
reminded the elders of the Church at 
Ephesus that the Holy Ghost had made 
them bishops over the flock. A Methodist 
bishop is elected by the General Confer- 
ence and consecrated by three bishops, or 
by one bishop and two elders. It is the 
duty of a bishop to preside at General 
Conference and at Annual Conferences, 
[53] 



METHODISM 



to make annual appointments to pastoral 
charges, to ordain deacons and elders, and 
in general to supervise the work of the 
Church. 



The Conferences 

TO a student or an observer of. the 
practices common to Methodism, it 
is easy to see that the system of Confer- 
ences is fundamental in a connectionalism 
fashioned after the Methodist order. The 
closest relationship existing among differ- 
ent Conferences and the larger delegated 
Conferences are but the development of 
Conferences more local in their character. 
The same minister or laymen may within a 
single year appear on the official roll of a 
Church Conference, a Quarterly Confer- 
ence, a District Conference, an Annual 
Conference, and a General Conference. A 
man may be admitted into membership 
in an Annual Conference in Maryland 
and before the Conference has adjourned 
be assigned by transfer to a Church in 
California. A minister's membership is in 
[54] 



ITS GOVERNMENT 



an Annual Conference, and he may be 
transferred to some Conference across the 
continent with the same facility of move- 
ment as one changes the place of his 
Church membership. 

The principal Conferences in the Meth- 
odist system are Quarterly, District, An- 
nual, and General Conferences. 

The Quarterly Conference, as the name 
indicates, is held quarterly in each pas- 
toral charge and is presided over by the 
presiding elder, or district superintendent, 
in whose district the charge is located. 
Its membership is practically identical 
with the official board of the local Church 
or group of Churches composing the pas- 
toral charge. Its function relates to the 
administration of the affairs of the charge. 

The District Conference is composed of 
traveling and local preachers and duly 
elected lay representatives within a cer- 
tain district. It generally meets once a 
year and reviews the mutual relation of 
charges and the affairs of the district as a 
whole. 

The Annual Conference is an adminis- 
[55] 



METHODISM 



trative body composed of the active and 
retired ministers within its bounds. Its 
membership also includes lay representa- 
tives elected by the District Conference. 
The business of an Annual Conference em- 
braces reports from pastoral charges and 
districts, plans, and reports of missionary, 
educational, and Sunday school activities; 
and the election of clerical and lay dele- 
gates to the General Conference. At the 
session of an Annual Conference, the pre- 
siding bishop meets his cabinet of pre- 
siding elders and arranges the appoint- 
ment of the ministers to their charges. 

The General Conference is the highest 
body in the Church and is the general leg- 
islative and judicial body. It convenes at 
intervals of four years with a membership 
made up of an equal number of clerical 
and lay delegates. The General Confer- 
ence alone has the right to enact laws and 
make rules and regulations governing the 
conduct of the affairs of the Church, and 
even then it is subject to specific limita- 
tions and restrictions written into the 
fundamental law of the Church. The 
[56] 



ITS GOVERNMENT 



General Conference authorizes the organi- 
zation of Annual Conferences and fixes 
their boundaries. It elects the bishops, 
official editors, and secretaries of the sev- 
eral administrative boards of the Church. 

In its missionary and educational at- 
tainments Methodism has challenged the 
admiration of the Christian world, and in a 
decade just past has achieved results far 
in excess of the fifty years of preceding 
history. With all its glorious history, 
Methodism's glory is not altogether in the 
past. We are yet laboring amid the mists 
of the morning. It is the rising sun that 
smites our forehead. Only the future can 
reveal the glory that is to be. In the 
United States alone Methodism records a 
membership of approximately eight mil- 
lions in its fourteen bodies. 

What a graphic realization of the truth 
that finds expression in the lines engraved 
on the memorial in Westminster to the 
founder of Methodism: "God buries his 
workmen but carries on his work"! Like 
the walls of Thebes, Methodism is being 
builded to the sound of heavenly music. 
[57] 



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